It is rare to find a wine coming from Primorsko-Goranska county – eastern neighbor of Istria whose main city is Rijeka – that does not come from the island of Krk but from the coast. This chardonnay comes from Pavlomir winery from Novi Vinodolski, a small coastal town just 30 km southeast of Rijeka that in ancient times was famous for good wine. No surprise the town has vino in its name, in fact literal translation would be New Winevalley. But in the 80ties there was not a single winery in the area. Strangely enough, the war brought back the wine to Novi Vinodolski.
Pavlomir wine valley
As you might know, in the 90ties (1991-1995) Croatia have passed through the war for independence from Yugoslavia. In these hard times a lot of people from Vukovar and Ilok, Croatian towns in East Slavonia famous for its wines from the vineyards along the Danube, were forced to leave and find a new home. Some of them were skilled winegrowers and winemakers that by pure chance came to Novi Vinodolski, without any money, job and shelter, basically they had to start their lives from scratch. After few years they got aware of the great potential of its terroir and 15 years ago they started to plant new vineyards in Pavlomir wine valley. Soon, Pavlomir winery was founded and marked renaissance of winemaking in the area.
Here is their chardonnay I tried on a hot summer day.
Brilliant straw yellow color, slow in the glass. In the nose I feel aroma spectrum very similar to the one I found in Istrian Malvasia – acacia flowers and honey, pineapple, mango. Primary aromatics of chardonnay is completely masked by these heavy fruit and flower aromas that are most probably originating from some selected yeast. No, you can not tell me this is terroir.
I really hate that wines, especially whites along Croatian coast from Istria to Dalmatia, are becoming more and more similar to each other just because people are adding same aromatic powder to their grape juice. Butter note is a clear sign of successful malolactic fermentation.
In the mouth is dry, great acidity nicely equilibrates high alcohol content (14,8 %), the flavors are too straightforward, some green grass refreshes me nicely, than tropical fruit comes and that’s it. Not a very complex wine definitely. Strong body, almost too robust. The aromas and flavors are intense, but they are in cacophony, one is pulling North, other South, there is no elegance that would invite me to drink another glass, no adventure here. Great minerality washes the mouth thoroughly and makes a bit better overall impression.
Notice to the winemaker: More alcohol does not mean the wine is better.
Pairs greatly with all kinds of seafood, especially with gratinated scallops, chicken and rabbit in heavy cream sauces and aromatic herbs.
77pts
View Pavlomir Wine Valley in a larger map
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
nisam čuo za ovo vino niti vinara…jesu to neke manje količine ili… i ima li još koju sortu? koja je neka okvirna cijena za ovaj chardonnay?
Imala sam priliku na Sajmu vina u Beogradu da probam ,i kupim Cabernet Sauvignon,i mogu reci da sam prijatno iznenadjena,vino je vrhunskog kvaliteta ,toplo ga preporucujem.Imam problem jer ne znam kako i gde mogu da ga kupim.Ako neko zna molim za informaciju
To je jedina vinarija na tom području, direktor se zove Miroslav Palinkaš. Evo što sam uspio naći o njima
http://vinarija.com/vinari/vinarije/180-novi-uspjeh-vinodolske-vinarije-pavlomir.html
Imaju 32 hektar i sve uglavnom prodaju unutar županije. Ovaj chardonnay nije loš za početak, ali taj veliki alkohol me ubija čak i ako su ga uspjeli izvrsno uravnotežiti sa kiselinama i mineralima.
Te dobre kiseline mi govore se da je položaj dobar, google earth kaže da su malo izdignuti iznad mora tako da bi noći trebale biti hladnije sa hladnim vjetrovima što je dobro za aromatiku i kiseline. Drago mi je da su vratili autohtonu žlahtinu na obalu, da ne dolazi to vino samo s Krka. Imaju još pinot bijeli i muškat žuti. Samo ne znam što im je trebalo dovesti kontinentalnu Frankovku na krš i mediteran? Ali tko zna, možda se prilagodi novim uvjetima i da zanimljivo vino.
U svakom slučaju oduševljava kako su prognanici uspjeli oživiti aktivnost koju su domaći već odavno pokopali. U svakom zlu ima nečeg dobroga.
Frankovku??
oh god…..